Sacral building

A walk through Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha – five kilometers of red torii, mountain light, and the quiet rhythm of a sacred path.

An evening walk with monk Nobo through the Okunoin cemetery in Kōyasan: towering cedars, stone lanterns, Jizō statues, ancient legends, and the path to Kōbō Daishi’s mausoleum.

The Kongōbu-ji (金剛峰寺) — literally “Temple of the Diamond Peak” — is the head temple of the Shingon School of Japanese Buddhism and the spiritual centre of Kōyasan. Here, on the high plateau that Kūkai conceived in the 9th century as a microcosm of the universe, the quiet strength of this place condenses into stone, sand, and sound.

Kōyasan – the heart of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and the spiritual home of Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi). The sacred mountain, final destination of the 88-Temple Pilgrimage, remains a living center of meditation and fire rituals. Our stay at Ekōin Temple revealed how legend, devotion, and serenity merge in this timeless place.

The Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba unites mosque and cathedral in one luminous structure. Light, stone, and history merge into a space where faiths meet — a timeless dialogue between architecture, memory, and belief.

In 2018, Cologne Cathedral became a canvas for the light installation Dona Nobis Pacem. Black and white, then full color, the façade itself spoke a message of peace, remembrance, and hope through light, sound, and silence.

The former synagogue of Padberg is a quiet memorial to remembrance and resilience. This HDR photograph, taken in 2018 under a dramatic evening sky, captures the light and history of a place where silence speaks of tolerance and time.

Photographed in 1994 on approach to Kathmandu, this analog FUJI-film image of the Boudhanath Stupa captures a golden morning above the city – its grain and glow preserving a timeless intersection of light, faith, and photography.

On the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu stands Pashupatinath Temple – a sacred place of transition where life, death, and renewal flow together in quiet balance. A timeless encounter with impermanence and peace.

In the golden morning light, the Swayambhunath Stupa glowed above Kathmandu. Its radiance drew us up the hill – to a place where light, stillness, and awareness meet in timeless harmony.

Returning to Singapore’s Sri Mariamman Temple after twenty years, we found its colors shining in bright sunlight against the modern skyline – a vivid meeting of history, faith, and the city’s restless present.

On Réunion Island, Saint-André’s Temple du Colosse stands amid palms and sugarcane. Dedicated to Pandialé, its South Indian gopuram and vivid colors reflect Tamil heritage — a quiet place where architecture and memory meet.

The Principality of Moldova, founded in the 14th century, reached its cultural heyday in the 15th century under the province of Stephen the Great.

The most famous Bhutanese monastery, the Taktsang or Tiger's Nest Monastery, is located in the Parotal at an altitude of 3120 meters.

The cultural city of Mechelen in Belgium delights day and night with historic buildings, bridges over the Dijle, picturesque alleys and Beethoven.

Our entry into Tibet turned out to be difficult in 1993, but finally we were able to fly from Chengdu to Lhasa.

Viðareiði is the northernmost town in the Faroe Islands and is located on the island of Viðoy. From here we start our boat tour to the islands of Fugloy and Svinoy with the public supply ship called Ritan.

Around 2,000 sacred buildings have been preserved on around 36 square kilometers in the Pagan steppe at the east bank of the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar.

Located in the Yeonhwa area of the Sobaek Mountains, the Guinsa Temple of Salvation and Goodness is the headquarters of the Cheontae school of Korean Buddhism.

Archery in Bhutan is more than just a hobby. We learned it from scratch at Dzong Trongsa.

In 1997, Europe's southernmost mosque, the Ibrahim al-Ibrahim Mosque, was opened at the so-called Point Europa of Gibraltar.

Le Mont Saint Michel - Monastery, pilgrimage site, prison, World Heritage. The famous UNESCO site is a magical place with an eventful history.

The Camino de Santiago leads to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the bones of Saint James, one of the 12 apostles, are kept under the cathedral. If the long hike used to be a journey into the "I", today it is more and more like an ongoing sporting event.

The island of Gaztelugatxe in the Bay of Biscay served as a retreat for the Templars in the 13th century and as a filming location for the creators of Game of Thrones.

The Templars protected them for a long time, the pilgrims on the Way of St. James between Leon, Astorga, Bonferrada and finally on their last stage to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Gammelstad (translated Old Town) is the former mainly religious center of the city of Luleå in northern Sweden.

Blue hour over the cathedral island on the Oder in Wroclaw - on the right you can see the two towers of the cathedral.

Our trip to Venice in 1988 resulted in so many photo opportunities that the number of films we took with us was barely enough.

The Yiga Choeling Monastery (recently Ghoom Monastery) in Darjeeling is the seat of the Gelukpa or the yellow hat branch of Buddhism in Darjeeling.

The Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat is nestled like a bird's nest under the peaks of the 1236 meter high Montserrat mountain.

Vilnius is also often referred to as the baroque capital of Lithuania and the many baroque buildings in the old town confirm this.

Traveling to Bhutan takes a lot of preparation. For example, during our planning phase we had to organize driver, guide and compulsory exchange..

The Gölcük earthquake struck Turkey on August 17, 1999 at 3:02 a.m. local time.

Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia and a former kingdom, borders China and India. The capital city is called Kathmandu.

Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion, captured as a Colorkey photograph: the gilded façade shines in color while the surroundings fade into black and white.

Cologne Cathedral at the blue hour - the classic photo motif that is often taken by photographers from the Rhineland.